Before Boo and I went to Bali, we had a conversation about the up-coming Disney 100 Exhibition that was taking place over a period of time at London ExCel.

On My Way

She had a couple of tickets and asked if I would like to go and see it with her.

No brainer there!

So, it was a frosty Sunday morning when I set off for London to meet up with her AND a lovely lady called Lisa who we made friends with on that same Bali trip.

Bali Babes

Of course, it never really goes to plan, does it?

I live with anxiety and am medicated for it. However, when there is going to be a special event or travelling I tend to get over-anxious. One of the big issues that I have is getting to sleep the night before.

On our way in….

By that, I mean I lie there desperate to sleep, telling myself that I NEED to be up early and I have to get to sleep. Consequently I don’t get to sleep easily or at all.

Early Advertisements

This meant that when I actually woke up two hours later than planned as I had slept right through three alarms, I went into super panic mode.

Mickey Mouse

I messaged Boo and explained that it was unlikely I would make the train that I had told her I would be on. She was cool and calm and told me not to worry and to get there when I could.

Fairy Tales

However, I was determined to get that train. I had promised I would be there and I didn’t want anyone waiting around for me if I could help it.

Sleeping Beauty

I jumped in the shower, threw my clothes on and stuck my makeup back in the bag I was taking. I could do it on the train after all!

The Glass Slipper

Thankfully I had prepped my travelling bag, clothes, chargers and gadgets the night before so I wasn’t running around trying to grab things.

More Fairy Tales

The train station is only 10 minutes away and I knew it was going to be a close cut thing, but I had to try.

Pinocchio

I had got a friend to drop me off and as we screeched up to the car park, throwing the wheelchair out of the back, they sprinted through the doors as the train pulled in.

Fantastic Fantasia

Simply put, there was about 4 minutes before that train left and it was on platform 3 which involved a lift and the bridge and a second lift. As we sped down platform 1, we called to the guard and asked where the lift was.

A Pirates Life

He was quite brusque and pointed the way.

Encanto

It wasn’t the quickest of lifts if I am to be honest, but the station clock said I still had 3 minutes in which to get that train. The platform guard knew I was coming and I was almost there.

Paw-Paw or Prickly Pear?

As the lift descended and I was pushed out rapidly, the guard looked at me and whistled the train away.

I was absolutely stunned.

To say I was emotional would be probably the right way of putting it.

Little Mermaid, Live Action

I questioned the guard as to why he had done that and I will never forget the demeaning way he spoke to me.

We Can Fly

Looking at me like I was a piece of rubbish, he stated “We don’t hold the lift for people like you”

Marvellous Moana

I was gobsmacked and I started to cry with a mix of anger, upset and astonishment. I said to him “but you knew I was coming down in the lift and you waited until those doors opened before you turned to see me and whistled it off”

Jungle Cruise

He denied this and said that the train has to depart on time and that I wasn’t there early enough.

Now, I am not arrogant or stupid. Yes, I did oversleep and I was running late. But he knew I was coming down in the lift and that took as long as it took. I didn’t have the luxury of sprinting down the stairs, like some others.

Cogsworth and Lumiere

I stated that he had no intention of getting me onto the train anyway as he hadn’t even got the wheelchair ramps ready for usage.

The Beast

He bluntly said that it would have taken him 30 seconds to get them ready.

What, those same 30 seconds that you didn’t wait until the actual time the train should have taken off from the platform, as the clock was still showing a minute to departure when we got out of the lift.

Maui

His excuse was that the train doors lock 40 seconds before departure and again it was tough. I would need to get the next train.

Marvellous Maleficent

The irony with that was they were already advertising their next train was running 11 minutes late due to not having a train driver available!

So it was okay when it suited them?

Mirabels Costume Design

Fair enough, I was cutting it very fine. I will take that on the chin. However, it was more his attitude and the way he spoke to me that really upset me.

Olaf

I was sat, in a wheelchair, tears running down my face and he dismissed me like I was a complete waste of his time.

Cruella Designs

Asking for his name and reference number, he disdainfully turned his back, pointed to his bottom and said “John Smith”.

Maquettes

Dejectedly we got back in the lift, over the bridge and back down to the ticket office.

Model from Pinocchio

What a start to the day.

Thankfully I was able to catch a different train from a nearby station and I arrived at St Pancras only 15 later than my original plan. I have no idea how, but I was pretty chuffed that I hadn’t blown the whole day!

The Original ‘Mary Poppins’

We met up with Lisa and grabbed an Uber to take us to ExCel London where the exhibition was being held. It looked pretty quiet until we turned a corner and saw the huge queue of people waiting to get in for their scheduled time.

Stormtrooper

Thankfully we didn’t have to wait long at all, and were ushered into a large area where we were shown a video talking about the birth of Disney and what Walt himself envisaged.

Frozen

Then we were shown through into the exhibition itself. Immediately you could hear Disney tunes and see patterns of lights in the shape of Mickey Mouse ears. The smile on my face couldn’t have got much bigger.

A Dinglehopper

The start was a little congested with all the people reading multiple display cards with huge amounts of information on, so we hung around for a little while before the crowds cleared a little.

The First Alice

Screens dotted about were showing some of the very first creations of Walt Disney; Alice, a comic from the 1920’s and the semi-famous Oswald the Lucky Rabbit who was the precursor to Mickey Mouse.

Oswald

However there were other cartoons shown including The Skeleton Dance from 1929 and also prototypes of animation where they were learning how things moved and looked.

Dancing Bones

The first Disney film was ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ made in 1937. Amongst the exhibits was a beautiful old book of the story and a stunning velvet bodice which was worn by the lady who ‘acted’ as Snow White. She wore the costume and moved as directed so they could sketch how a body flowed until they had created the whole film.

So Tiny

Moving around the room there were animation cells, books and information dotted around telling you of the creation of some of Walt Disney’s most beloved tales.

Animation Cells

My favourite exhibit was a display box containing a beautiful Winnie the Pooh; he will always be my favourite, however he had such a sad face, that he melted my heart completely.

I Wanted Him!

Another of the exhibits that I loved was a wooden carousel horse from Mary Poppins. As I had a Mary Poppins dress on which included the horses, I had to take some pictures with it.

Oh it’s a jolly holiday with Maaaaary

One of the really clever displays was a large storybook that had pages that could be turned. As you turned each huge page, a screen on the wall changed identically.

Interactive Storybook

There was a huge ‘cabinet’ full of Maquettes; statues of characters including Moana, Timothy J. Mouse, Pete’s Dragon, and my personal favourite, Russell from ‘Up’.

Russell

Another favourite was a stunning gown that was worn in the film ‘Cruella’ as designed by Emma Stone as part of the plot. Red Material swirled around a mannequin and on the wall were photographs of the dress being made.

THAT dress!

Moving around there was one whole section devoted to Star Wars and Marvel Universe; masks and creatures/characters in display cases. I have to admit that I am not that bothered by that side of the Disney World, so apart from taking a few photographs, we moved onwards.

Marvel Universe

The next section featured quite a lot of musical exhibits; old vinyl, musical scores and even sets of headphones so you could listen to some of the classic tunes.

Sing-a-long Songs

My favourite part in this section was the huge screen showing different snippets of film and it just happened to be showing my absolute favourite film ever; Up.

Up x

I had to sit and watch it for a few minutes, a huge smile on my face.

The exhibit was almost at an end now, apart from a couple of large displays that had ‘carriages’ that were part of some of the iconic Disney rides; Peter Pans Flight and Mr Toads Wild Ride.

Peter Pan’s Flight

The exhibition sadly was at an end, but of course there was the gift shop to get through.

Fancy a Ride?

I will admit I very nearly bought a Steiff Winnie the Pooh teddy bear, but in the end I settled for a large book all about the exhibition and a collectable bag to carry it home in.

BB8

The afternoon was pretty much over and we had already found out that there were issues with the tubes and trains that day. They were going on strike at 5pm, which meant that we needed to get to our respective areas before then so that going home wasn’t going to be an absolute nightmare.

I had seen the queues at St Pancras when I had arrived; they were literally queueing the full length of the station, right back from the platform to the underground entrance. Past dozens of shops and eateries. It was bonkers.

Princess and the Frog

We caught an Uber back to the train station and went to have a bite to eat before chaos descended.

Hitting Carluccios we ordered a few small plates including arancini, pasta crisps, prawns marinara and some fabulous focaccia. We shared everything and chatted about all we had seen and heard.

Ariel

Sadly it was soon time to leave before that chaos descended. Boo and Lisa made a dash for it and I made my way to the back of the queue. There were a lot of blue hi-vis wearing staff mingling around trying to help everyone make sense of what was going on.

A lovely young man came over and offered his assistance and I explained that I wanted to catch a train home and would need assistance boarding. He very helpfully escorted me to a staff member who checked the time of the next train.

On My Way Home

I had about 30 minutes to wait and he directed me to an area to wait, stating he would come back and collect me when the train was almost there. Ten minutes later he came back and escorted me to the train that had just arrived at the platform.

Getting the ramps out, he assisted me onto a carriage before the gates were open for everyone else. It was so much easier than trying to get through a scrum of people and I waited for the hordes to come and join me, given the huge crowds of people all waiting.

I could not have been more wrong!

A Bit Eerie

Literally no one came and joined me. At all.

I had the whole carriage to myself for the whole hour long journey. It was quiet and calm and it allowed me to sit and process all of the wonderful things I had seen all day.

A wonderful day with wonderful friends.

Till next time

SPSG xxx